Per Aspera Ad Astra
by JaqueDark
Summary: Dean Winchester is tailspinning more than he ever did before. On a hunt something goes wrong; he gets whammied by a trickster but things aren't as bad as they appear. He's given a new life and finds that he still has some things to fight for.
1. Chapter 1

Author's/Note: I know I shouldn't be posting any more stories but I promise that I am working on The Little Things and will be returning to Breaking 13 and The Fix. It just might take me a while to catch up because I need to write more for each; not that that's going to be at all difficult. The muse is behaving and I've got a good flow going so keep watching this space and enjoy my new story!

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><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

It was far to damn quiet in the warehouse, especially one that was supposed to be housing a trickster or djinn! He'd been tracking it for months now and he still couldn't get a handle on what it was; all he knew was that it had caused a lot of trouble. No one else would go near it... but Dean, well he did jobs that other hunters feared to do.

"Come out you son of a bitch! I know you're in here!" he shouted, his voice echoed through the dark. Dean levelled his sawn off and prepared to be answered

"Oh Dean, Dean, Dean" came the male voice from somewhere behind him. He turned sharply and fired on instinct but as soon as he'd squeezed the trigger his shotgun turned into a bouquet of flowers "You should be careful, Dean! You almost shot me"

"That was the general idea you evil son of bitch" hissed Dean at the floppy haired teenage boy standing there like he owned the place

"Why? What did I ever do to you?" the kid smirked before turning left to right "Do you like the outfit? I'm wearing your brother Sammy aged fourteen"

Dean's grip tightened on the flowers, the rose thorns dug into his palm but he ignored it. He was going to rip this bastard's lungs out

"I'm going to hurt you so much you'll beg for me to kill you" growled Dean through clenched teeth, he thought about going for the large bowie knife he had in an ankle holster but decided against it. He was going to get this bastard tied down before he started cutting him up. The not-Sam walked forward as he stuck his hands in his pockets

"Do you really want to do that? Especially when I have a proposition for you?" said not-Sam

"Like I'm going to listen to anything you have to say"

"Not even a few minutes for your little brother? Do you really hate him that much for leaving you all alone?"

"You're not my brother! He was just a baby... you'd have to do better than that" Dean sneered; the temptation to knife this bastard was unreal. Not-Sam bowed his head as he sighed before he looked back up at the hunter

"You're right. I should do better and I can" he told him "You killed my sister. We tricksters tend to be male but there are a few females out there... my sister was wise beyond her years and I loved her. You killed her seven months ago"

"And you want me to apologise? Is that what all those freak accidents were? Your calling card?"

"Something like that" nodded not-Sam "I knew you'd come because no one else has nothing to loose like you do. All those other hunters have friends, maybe some family tucked away somewhere but you. You have nothing... you're all alone. Just like me"

"I am nothing like you!" roared Dean, temptation breaking in him. He pulled out the knife and jammed it into the tricksters chest; it wasn't how to kill a tricksters but it did make Dean feel better

"I think you are, more than you know. You've killed so many of my kind and not just tricksters... there have been other things that live in the dark that you've destroyed. You hunt and kill monsters, not even noticing that you're becoming the biggest, vilest monster you've ever faced. You live in the dark just as much as us Dean Winchester and despite you butchering my sister I've decided to do you a favour"

"You try anything and I'll break through it, when I do I'm coming back and ripping you apart with my bare hands"

"Yeah, right. Sure you are" chuckled not-Sam dryly as he closed the distance and pressed his hand to Dean's head "Goodbye Dean, have a nice life"

Dean's vision swam, the warehouse shifting violently as his felt like it was burning from the inside out. His skull felt like it was melting and he briefly thought that his number was up; the world disappeared suddenly leaving only a warm, peaceful darkness.

The first thing Dean Winchester was aware of in his new life was that this was the comfiest place he'd ever woken up in. The mattress was so soft and the duvet was warm wrapped around him; he pressed his face into the pillow as he tried to remember how he'd ended up here and who he'd gotten lucky with. It had been a while since he'd slept with someone... not since he'd lost Bobby. It still stung to think about that old surly hunter and how alone he'd been.

"Dadda?" he felt someone shaking him and he rolled over to see a three year old girl with scruffy slept on pigtails kneeling next to him "I wan frui loops!"

"Go away kid, I'm not your dad" he mumbled as he flopped back down and tried to go back to sleep.

"Daaaadda!" whined the little girl as she resumed shaking him "Pwease!"

"Alright, alright!" snapped Dean as he tossed the blankets back and tried to force himself into complete lucidity "Where are your parents? Why are you bothering me? Wait... why are you in my hotel room?"

"Papa wen ta work" she announced

"And he left you with me? Wait..." he looked around, this was too cosy and nicely decorated to be a hotel room. There was a piece of paper resting on the pillow next to him

_'Had to go to work early, give Emmie breakfast and I'll see you later for lunch. Cas x' _

Dean groaned loudly and ignored the niggling feeling that something was extremely wrong. He suspected that Emmie was the little kid bugging him and he wondered why her mother put so much trust in a complete stranger.

"C'mon, kid, let's go make you breakfast" he grumbled, she bounced on the bed then threw up her arms at him

"Piggy ride!" she demanded. He scowled but lifted her up and swung her onto his back; she was lucky that she was so small and so light.

It was definitely not a motel he'd woken up in; this place was huge with a large solid dark wood staircase leading down to a wide hallway with several dark oak doors. Whoever owned this place must be loaded out the butt, thought Dean as he made his way down the stairs and started picking doors to find the kitchen.

"Good morning, Mr Dean" someone greeted him once he finally found the right door. Emmie wriggled down from his back and scurried across the floor to the sturdy table lit up by early morning light. There was a brown haired man cooking breakfast at a built in island in the centre of the kitchen. Everything in the room was modern, stylish and screamed money

"Uhh morning" he replied as he scratched his stomach

"Breakfast will be ready soon, sir" nodded the man, he was dressed in a white uniform and made Dean feel a little uncomfortable "Emmie, do you want fruitloops?"

"Yahuh mista Gabriel" Emmie answered solemnly then broke out into gap toothed grin as Gabriel left the pan he'd been manning and poured her cereal out for her then helped her pour the milk.

"Do you know where this kids' mom is so I can get out of here?" Dean inquired but all he got back was a confused look

"Mr Dean? Emmie doesn't have a mom... and I thought you weren't going into work today. Mr Cas said you'd be taking her to the zoo" Gabriel told him. Great, thought Dean, I have to babysit the kid. I've never had to look after a kid my entire life!

"Sure, okay" he nodded as he sat down at the table opposite Emmie. She didn't seem that bad and she was kinda cute with her dirty blonde hair and big green eyes.

Only seconds after he'd sat down a plate was put in front of him with a very big, fancy breakfast and Dean looked up in time just to see Gabriel scurrying back to the stove "Thanks, man"

"It's my job, Mr Dean" grinned Gabriel who winked at Emmie "Miss Emmie... would you like me to make you and your dadda a picnic to take with you to the zoo?"

"Yesh pwease, mista Gabriel!" she cried as she bounced in her seat, waving her milky spoon excitedly

"You got it, princess" he replied before he started pulling extra items out of the wide steel fridge "Mr Dean, do you want me to tell Uriel to prepare the car or will you be driving today?"

"I uhh I'll be driving"

"Very good, sir. I'll tell him to put Miss Emmie's booster seat in your favourite car" Dean blinked. Favourite car? Meaning he had more than one to have a preference? How on earth did I land this gig? Whoever this Cas person is, thought Dean, she must be disgustingly rich!

He didn't have to clean away the dishes but as soon as Emmie was done with her cereal she planted herself in his lap to wait for him

"I wanna wear deh pink dress taday, dadda"

"Sure thing, princess" he replied easily as he read through the paper. Something was tugging at his mind but he couldn't quite figure out what it was yet; he remembered the motel and cleaning his guns for a hunt but after that it was vague and hazy. Dean knew it would come back to him, he didn't feel like he was in immediate danger unless Gabriel, Emmie and the as of yet unseen Uriel were demons or shapeshifters or ghouls.

Dean carried Emmie up the stairs on his back, she wriggled and bounced the whole way up the stairs. Her room was at the end of the hall and he walked past the one he'd woken up in and a bathroom that was bigger than the motel he'd booked into a couple of days ago. Getting the little girl dressed was a nightmare and a half leaving him to again wonder what crazy bitch left their daughter in his hands?

The garage was like one of his favourite dreams, there were so many American classics nestled up next to his baby and Dean almost started drooling at the thought of taking some of these babies for a drive.

"Dadda, can we's take deh impala ta deh zoo?" Emmie asked as she tugged on his sleeve

"Sure, princess, but you should really stop calling me dadda. My name's Dean" he told her as he strapped her into the booster seat

"Nah uh, dat's wot papa calls ya. You my dadda" she giggled as she kicked her legs. Dean rolled his eyes and slid into the driver's seat "Now taa deh zoo!"

TBC...


	2. Chapter 2

Emmie led the way, constantly pulling on his hand, she was entranced by the penguins and for the longest time Dean could remember he was having fun. He wasn't sure if he'd ever been to a zoo before; definitely not since he'd been a kid before his whole world was torn to shreds. Sammy had never been to the zoo... he'd never got past his first birthday. Dean pushed those thoughts aside, it was pointless to think about his little brother who'd been dead for over twenty years.

The little girl in the pink dress lasted until she'd seen the giraffes and had lunch and then she promptly fell asleep on Dean's legs drooling on the pocket. Dean carefully set her down on the blanket and packed the empty food wrappers and containers away before he picked her up and carried her and the basket back to his car. He was near the main gate when someone called his name

"Dean!" he looked up to see a brown haired man with expressive blue eyes, as soon as the man got close enough to see that Emmie was sleeping he lowered his voice "Sorry I missed the zoo, did she behave herself?"

"Yeah, she was good as gold" he replied trying to remember if he knew this guy; he hadn't been at the house but he clearly knew Dean and knew where to find him today

"Want me to take her?" asked the man. Dean went with his instincts, shook his head and held out the empty picnic basket instead. If by some unbelievable reason Emmie's mother had put her trust in him looking after her daughter then he wasn't going to hand her over to the first stranger he came across "We should do something special this weekend, there's a music festival that I know you'd love. We could leave Emmie with Gabriel and have a proper date; we haven't done that in a while"

"Date?" Dean swallowed nervously; who the hell was this guy?

They walked out into the lot and the man looked at Dean in surprise when he saw the impala sitting there

"Uriel didn't drive you?" he asked and Dean shook his head, he unlocked the car door but the man took Emmie from him and strapped her into the booster seat "She's worn out, I'm sorry I missed it. Did you take any photos? We can send them to my sister"

"Oh uhh no. I didn't think... I'm sorry" mumbled Dean. The man looked a little disappointed but shrugged it off

"Don't worry about it, as long as Emmie had a good time that's all that matters. I'll see you back at the house" said the man finally before he walked off toward an equally expensive car and drove off.

It didn't take Dean long to get back to 'the house', he was amazed that he could remember where it was to be honest. He parked the impala in the garage and carried Emmie inside; the blue eyed man was in the hallway toeing off his shoes when he came in "I'll put her to bed and we'll have the afternoon to ourselves. How does that sound Mr Winchester?"

Okay, so he's flirting with me now, thought Dean feeling completely off his game and yet there was a warm flutter in his stomach at the attention this guy was giving him. Then a light came on above Dean's head

"What about Emmie's mom? What time does she get back?" Dean grinned at his ingenious plan! The man blinked in surprise

"My sister? Dean, she's in Boston. I don't think she's going to be interrupting us any time soon" he chuckled. This guy was Emmie's uncle! The blue eyed uncle took Emmie from Dean's arms once more and carried her off up the stairs.

Panicked Dean hurried into the kitchen hoping to find Gabriel. Maybe the cook could fill him in on this babysitting lark and why his apparent boss was flirting with him. The kitchen was empty but something caught his eye, he turned to see a figure standing in the mirror at the far end of the adjoining dining room

"_Finally_!" gasped not-Sam eccentrically "I've been trying to contact you all day. Where have you been?"

"The zoo" Dean muttered under his breathe, suddenly ashamed that he'd been doing something so childish. It all came back to him and he remembered the warehouse and the trickster and being zapped by weird ass mojo "What did you do to me? Where am I?"

"I sent you to another reality and you're in New York. That's the reason I'm talking to you through a portal and not in person. I know I'm awesome in every way and all but if I made the trip to the reality you're in then I wouldn't be coming back"

"Have you stranded me here?" hissed Dean. Not-Sam rolled his shoulders and smirked at him knowingly

"Dean, I gave you a life. I'd hardly call it being stranded. No, the reason I can't come to the reality you're in is because Demons, Magic and all things that go bump in the night don't exist. There's no magic in that reality and nothing for you to hunt. There are no hunters, Dean, just regular people with the odd bedtime story. Anything scary is make believe"

"So you're telling me there's no ghosts... no demons? But... a demon killed my mom"

"Alive and well. Still living in Lawrence!" grinned not-Sam "You're really lucky; I could have killed you for killing my sister and I was going to but I think she would have preferred this instead. You're stuck in a place where the most significant part of your life is nothing but a child's bad dream"

"I don't get it" Dean shook his head

"You have to learn to be happy, Dean. I searched through all realities you exist in and in this one you're the happiest. It's something you don't know how to do... I think this is probably my most greatest trick"

"You sonova bitch"

"Dean, I hope you don't use that kind of language in front of your daughter!" laughed the not-Sam trickster "Just so you know; Emmie is your daughter and the guy who keeps flirting with you. He's your boyfriend... you've been disgustingly in love since college, you've even been planning to pop the question. So like I said Dean, have a nice life!" and then he was gone leaving Dean alone with his reflection in the mirror.

"You could have at least told his name" he grumbled. The man walked into the kitchen and grinned at Dean

"You don't have to stare at yourself. We all know you're good looking" he said as he wrapped his arms around Dean from behind "Emmie's down and I've given Gabriel and Uriel the rest of the day off so it's just you and me. Wanna fool around with me, Mr Winchester?" he asked right before his hands got grabby. Dean got hard in seconds and just as uncomfortable

"I uhh whoa..." he gasped as he pulled away from grabby hands

"What's wrong? Don't tell me work called..." pouted the man

"No uhh they didn't... I just... headache?" the man rolled his eyes but smirked and started advancing

"You always told me the best cure for a headache" before Dean knew it the man was on his knees undoing his jeans and pulling them down

"Oh, oh my god" he gasped loudly as wet warmth surrounded his erection. The man knew what he was doing down there! Dean wanted to stop, wanted to protest that he wasn't gay but that was a really hard sell when you were hard and receiving the best blow job you'd ever had from another _guy. _"Stop, you need to stop! I'm gonna..."

The guy didn't stop just started bobbing his head faster until Dean lost all coherency and tumbled back against the wall feeling content. He came back to himself to find that his dick had been tucked back into his pants and the guy was making out with him. Dean had been kissing back completely unconsciously; dude wasn't that bad a kisser.

"Papa?" came the sleepy voice. Emmie came marching in still wearing her pink dress, if now slightly crumpled, a bear was tucked under her arm and she rubbed sleepily at her eyes "Dadda took us ta see deh penguis"

"Did he now?" the man grinned as he picked her up. Okay, thought Dean, this is definitely not Emmie's uncle. With the new information the trickster had so kindly given him; he guessed that they were loaded, all those cars were his, this was his daughter and not some babysitting job he'd stupidly wandered onto and that he was gay for the blue eyed dude with the grabby hands and mad scientist hair. Mad scientist hair that had been soft and nice to tug on, but no one heard Dean think that. "Are you hungry, baby?"

"I wan dadda ta make red rice soup" she demanded still rubbing at her left eye

"Dean, make her some soup while I go grab the thermometer. She's feeling a bit warm" he pressed his palm to her forehead but she shrugged him off

"Not sick!" she yelled fiercely, as she stuck out her lower lip in defiance before she started to sniffle "Wan soup! Papa... potty!"

Dean chuckled for a moment at her words until he saw a stream of moisture running down the un-named man's dress shirt. So much for giving a decent warning! Emmie chose that moment to burst into a fully fledged crying tantrum because she'd wet her dress

"It's okay baby. Dadda's gonna make you soup and I'll run you a bath" he told her and Dean had to hand it to the guy; he was one awesome parent! Anyone would look disappointed that their sexy fun time had been interrupted but not him, he was Mr Dad and didn't seem to care that he'd just been pissed on by a grouchy three year old.

So while Mr No Name took their daughter upstairs to have a bath, he concentrated on boiling some rice and heating up tomato soup. It had been what his mother had made him when he was sick before she died; Dean froze as words hit him. The trickster had told him that his mother was alive and well because there were no demons... that meant that his brother had to be alive as well!

"_I searched through all realities you exist in and in this one you're the happiest" _

If his mother and brother were alive then did that mean his father was too? He pulled out his phone from his pocket and scrolled through the address book until he found 'Dad' listed. With his heart thrumming in his throat Deam pressed the call button and pressed the phone to his ear

"Hello" came the gruff sleepy voice he'd recognise anywhere. His dad had been dead for three years after dying in a car accident and yet here he was talking to him on the phone like nothing was out of the ordinary

"Dad?" he whispered before swallowing sharply; his dad was alive and he had no clue what to say to him

"Sammy?" John replied, Dean cleared his throat

"No dad... uhh it's me. Dean"

"I don't have a son called Dean. I only have one son" he told Dean and the young Winchester felt his blood freeze in his veins

"But dad..." had he got the wrong number?

"Look, I told you not to call here anymore. We don't want anything to do with you or your lifestyle and stop sending us money. We don't want your filthy bribes" snapped John then he hung up leaving the dial tone echoing in Dean's ear.

His family was alive but they wanted nothing to do with him all because of the grabby hands guy with the mad hair and little Emmie? Dean wanted to grab his car keys and go home to his family but something was stopping him; there must have been a reason why he was here and not there. Even beyond Emmie being cute and grabby hands being good at blowjobs.

Dean prepared the red rice soup with tears clouding his eyes. He put it in a little bowl that couldn't belong to anyone but Emmie and carried it up on a tray for her. She was out of the bath and dressed in clean pj's as the man tucked her into bed

"I sowee I peed on ya papa" said Emmie sleepily

"It's okay baby, you're not well. Hey, look what dadda's brought you" he grinned as Dean carefully set the tray down on the bed

"Fanks dadda. I love you" she stared up at him with big green eyes and he gasped. He'd not really looked at her properly the entire day he'd been around her but she had his eyes!

"I-I love you too Emmie"

They sat with her until she ate most of the tomato rice soup and fell asleep. The man put the tray on the bedside table next to the lamp before he ushered Dean out of the room

"I'm going to take a shower, could you grab the baby monitor from our room and take it with you just in case she wakes up?"

"Yeah, sure" nodded Dean and did as he was asked.

He was sitting on the bottom step of the impressive staircase holding the baby monitor in his hand when the man came down fresh from the shower, rubbing his hair dry with a small towel

"Dean? Baby, what's wrong?"

"Can you tell me your name?" Dean replied not taking his eyes off the monitor

"Whu... why? Dean you know my name" the man replied

"Please" begged Dean finally looking up at the blue eyed man, something in those blue eyes caved and the man sat down next him on the step

"It's Castiel James Novak, is there anything else you wish to know? Or are you going to tell me why you needed to ask?"

"I called my dad" Dean told Castiel, his voice barely audible like he was ashamed. Castiel blinked in strange understanding and put his arm around Dean's shoulders; Dean denied himself that that simple act gave him comfort "I want to see my family"

"God, I love you Dean. Only you could be so forgiving about what they did to you and want to see them again" sighed Cas "Is it because of Emmie? I know you've been keeping tabs on them since she was born"

"I-I miss them and they should know her. She's beautiful and so clever even when she pissed on you" he chuckled making Castiel laugh too

"Yeah she is. I could get us some flights to Kansas if you want... we could go next week, all three of us"

"I'd like that" Dean nodded. Castiel smiled and kissed Dean, Dean let him.

TBC...


End file.
